Chapter Text
Ukai paused in the parking lot for a few minutes before getting out of his car to join the Karasuno training camp. Not for the first time, he was less than thrilled with Takeda Ittetsu for talking him into taking this coaching gig. Spending several days away from home, herding teenage boys and sharing a lodge with them had never been his idea of a good time. But, his word was his word, and the kids really did seem passionate about the sport, so eventually Ukai emerged from his car.
He had arrived later than the rest, thanks to his shift at the store. Even from outside, he could hear the boys talking and laughing, maybe having dinner? He hoped he hadn’t missed the whole meal, because he sure hadn’t had one since noon.
Once he was inside, Keishin only had to follow the commotion down the hall to find the team. His heart sank a little when he opened the door, and there was barely any food left on the table. Dammit.
“Coach is here!” Tanaka announced. The rest of the team echoed greetings as he came in and set his bag down.
“Ukai-kun, you made it!” Takeda said cheerfully. “I saved you a plate, are you hungry?” Keishin had never liked the teacher more.
“Yeah, I haven’t eaten in hours,” he said gratefully. “I didn’t take anything from the store, either, cause I’m already skipping out on my folks for the next few days.” He sat down, and Takeda handed him a plate of food.
“Here you go, I hope your family isn’t in too much of a bind with you gone,” Takeda said. Ukai shrugged. His mom wasn’t exactly happy about it, but it’s not like he didn’t give her plenty of warning. He kind of wished she’d just hire a part-timer already.
“They’ll survive,” is all he said before saying his thanks and digging in.
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After the meal was finished, and the dishes were done, the team went upstairs to set up for bed. Keishin followed Takeda to the smaller room they’d be sharing, and set his bag down against the wall.
“Ukai-kun, do you want to bathe first? We have a bathroom to ourselves, thankfully.” Takeda was in the middle of setting up his futon across the room. He was still wearing that cloth on his head, presumably from when he was cooking or cleaning.
“Nah, you go ahead. I think I’m gonna try and finish up this damn starting lineup so we have it for tomorrow,” Keishin sighed, sitting down with his notes. He really didn’t want to upset anyone this soon after becoming the coach, but it was his job to do what was best. Still… it was hard to say what was the best decision to make. If he gave Sugawara’s position to Kageyama, would the other upperclassmen be frustrated? Would they not trust Kageyama? In terms of ability, Kageyama was a shoo-in, but that didn’t account for how well the team would react. If the boys resented Ukai for picking him over Sugawara, that would make things even more frustrating.
Keishin stood up after a while, and headed down the hall to the vending machine for a coffee. He really would have preferred a cigarette, but he was pretty sure the school technically owned this place. He got himself a can and took a long sip. Then, from behind him:
“Coach Ukai?” Sugawara. Fuuuck.
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Honestly, talking with Sugawara about the starting setter position did a lot to put his mind at ease. He didn’t have to worry anymore about breaking the news to the third year, and Ukai was confident that the rest of the team would support his decision if Sugawara did too.
“You look happy,” Takeda observed as he came back in from the bathroom. Keishin was setting up his own futon across the room from Takeda’s, and humming to himself.
“I gotta hand it to you Sensei, these kids are more than I gave ‘em credit for. Sugawara found me in the hall and told me to start Kageyama if that’s what would help the team win.” Takeda smiled.
“What did I tell you?” he chuckled. “So, have you made your mind up?”
“Yeah… I’m going with Kageyama. If it doesn’t work out, we can make Sugawara starter later, but I wanna see how they play with Kageyama for this match at least,” Keishin said. He fished his towel out of his bag, and plugged his phone in. “I’m gonna get washed up, feel free to shut the lights off if you want.” He went down the hall to bathe, feeling much less apprehensive about this whole training camp deal. Now he could focus on getting those brats ready to grind Naoi’s team into the dirt.